UPDATE

Federal judge dismisses lawsuit challenging State Bar activities by Kathleen O. Beitiks Staff Writer ...CONTINUED FROM FRONTPAGE

Because attorneys are allowed to deduct a portion of their annual fees attributed to the bar’s political activities, Judge Burrell said the plaintiffs failed to show that they have been forced to support the bar’s political positions.

In addition, the allegation that the requirement of identifying one’s bar membership in court documents violates First Amendment rights "can hardly be considered an endorsement of the State Bar’s political positions," wrote Burrell.

In other legislative news, a bill which would keep State Bar annual dues at $458 for the next two years was sent to the governor last month, ending months of criticism and compromise on the part of the legislature and bar leaders.

While the bill sets fees at $458 per year for most active members, the actual fee is $448, which includes a $10 rebate for the next two years.

The governor has until Oct. 12 to sign the bill.

The bill also requires the State Bar to provide a detailed response to a state auditor’s report which recommended measures for the bar to increase revenue, including putting contracts out to bid and stepping up the collection of discipline fines. The bar’s report to both houses of the legislature is due November 1998.

The rebate surfaced after bar officials learned that it would net $2 million more from the sale of its San Francisco building than anticipated.

The bar sold its San Francisco building on Franklin Street and is consolidating its three Bay Area offices at 180 Howard St.

At least one board member, Leon Goldin of Los Angeles, has asked that next year’s fee bill have a notation encouraging the state’s attorneys to designate their $10 rebate for the State Bar Foundation.

The foundation provides scholarships to law students who excel academically and are committed to public service.

The fee bill, SB 1145, was authored by Sen. John Burton.

In other end-of-the-session legislative news:

• Larry Doyle, chief legislative counsel of the State Bar, reported that the overwhelming changes in members and staff in the legislature, due to term limits, resulted in a more than 20 percent reduction in the number of bills introduced in 1997, "a fact that hurt institutions like the State Bar that sponsor general corrective legislation."

• Legislative staff turnover resulted in the first-ever failure of the annual Assembly Judiciary Committee Omnibus Civil Practice bill to move forward as a one-year measure.

• State Bar sections and committees sponsored legislation such as SB 1234 (Alpert), which would conform state tax laws to the "check the box" regulations adopted last year at the federal level. A comprehensive measure, AB 1172 (Kaloogian), makes substantive and technical refinements to the Probate Code, including provisions to provide trust rights to neglected or omitted spouses and children and to provide procedural protections to the aged against financial abuse by trustees.

• Doyle’s report said, "But for one unique occurrence [the annual omnibus bill was held over], 1997 might have been one of the best years ever for the Conference of Delegates legislative program. As it was, the year was still excellent."

• The board’s legislative program was contracted out this year, and three of seven resolutions were placed in three measures.

In addition to the fee bill, the legislature adopted a concurrent resolution honoring Mediation Week and a two-year bill dealing with arbitrator immunity, SB 19.